Nigeria:Even Before Yusuf, NHIS Was an Agency Steeped in Fraud

Long before the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) made the headlines with the recent crisis surrounding its repeatedly suspended Executive Secretary, Usman Yusuf, the Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF) raised an alarm on how monumental fraud, opacity along with impunity had become the culture of the agency, PREMIUM TIMES can report.

The annual report of the AuGF on the accounts of Nigerian agencies for the year ended December 2016 revealed in which billions of naira were unaccounted for by the management of the NHIS within the previous seven years.

The report, which is actually the latest by the AuGF, indicated in which fraud along with mismanagement as alleged against Mr Yusuf are standard practice at the agency along with actually predate his administration.

Mr. Yusuf, 54, took over the state-run health insurance provider on July 29, 2016 although his tenure has been bedevilled by controversies. His reign partially came to a halt last year July when the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, sent him on indefinite suspension over allegations of misconduct along with corruption.

Thereafter, Mr Adewole asked a panel to investigate the allegations. Although documents in possession of PREMIUM TIMES revealed the panel indicted Mr Yusuf along with recommended sanction, President Muhammadu Buhari reinstated him seven months later.

However, on October 18, the governing council of the scheme again announced in which was sending the executive secretary on another indefinite suspension also over alleged fraud along with misconduct. although he disputed the powers of the council to suspend him along with alleged he was being victimised. The following Monday, he stormed the headquarters of the scheme that has a contingent of about 50 police officers to force his way into his office.

President Buhari eventually intervened along with directed Mr Yusuf to proceed on administrative leave via November 5, to enable a panel he instructed to be constituted investigate the allegations against him.

Indictment

The federal government established the NHIS under Act 35 of the 1999 Constitution that has a view to ensuring effective along with affordable healthcare services to all Nigerians. However, since its take off 13 years ago, the scheme has failed to meaningfully cover or share the expenses associated with healthcare of Nigerians as envisaged.

The auditor-general’s report showed the welter of financial misconduct along with brazen disregard of fiscal regulations by the management of the scheme.

The report shows the scheme consistently failed to submit audited financial statements, in disregard of federal laws mandating annual audit of public agencies.

The report revealed in which billions of naira were unaccounted for by the scheme within the previous seven years. in which uncovered monumental financial irregularities, opaque transactions, as well as irregular along with abnormal running costs during the period.

“In my Annual Report for the year ended 31st December 2015 (PART 1), I reported in which NHIS had consistently failed to submit its Audited Accounts to me, for the 4 (four) years via 2011 to 2014, as required by Section 85(3) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) along with Financial Regulation 3210(v),” the Auditor-General of the Federation, Anthony Ayine, stated within the report.

“The Executive Secretary was asked to submit 7 (seven) copies each of the Audited Accounts along with Management Letter for every year of default. However, up until the time of compiling This particular report, the Accounts were still outstanding, as no remedial action had been taken by the NHIS Management in This particular regard. Instead, 2015, 2016 along with 2017 Accounts have been added to the backlog.

“This particular development restricted me via commenting on the Audited account of the Scheme for the years in question,” Mr Ayine stated.

The report shows in which the purchase along with renovation of the NHIS corporate Head Office, which costs about N990million was inflated.

The contracts for the building was also illegally awarded by the Ministerial Tenders Board instead of the Federal Executive Council.

“within the process of examining payment voucher no. NHIS/ADM/0002/2015 dated 12th January, 2015, for the purchase along with rehabilitation/renovation of property/uncompleted Building for NHIS Corporate Head Office, in which was revealed in which the purchase of the Building for N990,000,000.00 was awarded by the Ministerial Tenders Board.

“The contract amount is actually above the official limit of the Ministerial Tenders Board along with should have been awarded by the Federal Executive Council. During a visit to the property, in which was observed in which the purchased property was only at foundation level, hence the cost of the property appeared inflated.”

The report also indicted the scheme of investing one more N117 billion (N117,894,196,033.00) against the approval of the health minister.

“Between December 2014 along with January 2015, the NHIS sought along with obtained the approval of the Honourable Minister of Health to enhance its investment fund portfolio via N115 billion to N123 billion.

“However, in complete disregard of the approval, the Scheme invested the sum of N240,894,196,033.00 as against the N123 billion approved.

The Treasury Bill Account of N261 million (N261,780,821.92) on 1st of June 2015 was also debited instead of credited within the Bank Statement.

“Balance of N11 billion (N11,297,227,516.51) was not transferred to the TSA in compliance with Government directive as at September 2015 deadline. These irregularities made in which difficult to establish the true position of the Fund of the Scheme along with calls for reconciliation,” the auditor stated.

The audit report shows in which N108 million (N108,825,756.00) was spent as donations in 2015. The basis for some of these donations, the auditor said, was not explained. He asked the executive secretary to justify the expenditure of such an amount on donations as well as disclose the purpose of the donations.

The report also stated in which the scheme failed to maintain a fixed asset register to capture all the asset owned or acquired since 2012, resulting in unavailability of a comprehensive record of the asset. The auditor asked the executive secretary to ensure in which “a comprehensive Fixed Assets Register is actually compiled forthwith, to capture all the Assets owned by the organisation.”

The report further stated in which schedule of cash advances for the scheme as at 31st December 2015, showed in which unretired cash advances amounted to over N99 million (N99,619,560.00).

“These cash advances were granted for various official duties, although the age of the advances were not disclosed within the schedule,” in which stated.

in which also stated multiple advances were granted to staff without retiring the previous ones, “in flagrant violation of the Financial Regulations which provide in which no brand new advance should be granted to any officer without retiring the previous one.”

The audit report also showed in which over N38 million generated by the scheme as accreditation fees by Health Management Organisations (HMOs) along with Tender fees via prospective contractors within the year 2015 were not remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund as stipulated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Ironically, the auditor-general’s report only added a layer to the allegations of corruption in which have been swirling around the NHIS.

An Agency Steeped In Fraud

Mr. Yusuf only took over on July 29, 2016 via the then acting Executive Secretary, Olufemi Akingbade, who was the General Manager, Information Communication Technology (ICT) until he was appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan to head the NHIS following the sack of Olufemi Thomas.

Mr Thomas was appointed Executive Secretary on November 20, 2013 along with sacked on April 27, 2015 for reasons not specified. In August 2015, a few months after he was sacked, the Economic along with Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was on his trail over a $2.198,900 cash seized via one Ibiteye Bamidele, a bureau de change operator arrested at the Lagos airport in July, 2015.

Mr Bamidele had named Mr Thomas as the owner of the cash seized by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

In 2017, Mr Thomas along with his successor in acting capacity, Mr Akingbade, were fingered as masterminds of fraud involving billions of naira, employment racketeering along that has a string of some other misdeeds indicative of abuse of office during their time in office.

Mr Akingbade was one of the eight officials of the NHIS suspended by the Minister of Health, Mr Adewole, in July, 2017 following more facts uncovered by the committee set up by the minister to investigate the allegations against Mr Yusuf. Mr Akingbade was accused of fraud while he was in charge of the ICT Department along with was indicted by security agencies although was never charged.

According to a document obtained by SAHARA REPORTERS newspaper in 2017, Messrs Thomas along with Akingbade were found to have sneaked non-existent HMOs into the NHIS along with paid them a whopping N322.7million.

Mr Thomas was also found to have sanctioned the purchase of a proposed site for the NHIS office complex at a vastly inflated sum of N900million, a cost in excess of the N500million prescribed within the 2014 budget.

He was also said to have awarded along with started off paying himself a package of N21million per annum, an action considered a breach of Sections 16 along with 19 of the Act 2000.

Officials React

Mr Yusuf had acknowledged in which the accounts of the NHIS were not audited over time, citing This particular as the reason why he engaged the services of an accounting firm, Sofura Professionals, to carry out a forensic review of the scheme’s accounting system.

The federal government also in 2018 said in which discovered over N138 billion of the NHIS cash was trapped in 17 banks, financial companies along with individuals’ pockets via January 2011 to date along with engaged a firm to carry out a forensic audit of the scheme.

Mr Yusuf said he got to know the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) had engaged the firm, Aruna Bawa & Co, to carry out the audit along with recovery of NHIS funds when he resumed via suspension in February. although he added in which the assignment was a duplication of the earlier assignment he gave to Sofura Professionals along with said he was trying to persuade the AGF to cancel in which.

In his reaction, Mr Akingbade, who was the acting executive secretary of the NHIS via 2015 to 2016, said only the present executive secretary can give answers to the questions raised by the auditor-general.

“The question about the information within the auditor’s report is actually an official question along with should be channelled to the Executive Secretary. I am a civil servant along with the amount of information I give out is actually limited. So if in which comes through officially, all questions will be answered,” he said.

The spokesperson of the scheme, Odoh Onuh, could not be reached for comments as he did not pick calls to his line or respond to text messages.